Child&#39;s seat for nesting carriers



Nov. 18, 1958 K. H. SCHWEITZER CHILD'S SEAT FOR NESTING CARRIERS Filed July 29, 1955 R m m m Kurt Schweitzer %flZM After/veg Unite This invention relates to improvements in nesting carts for use in grocery stores of the self-service type. It is desirable in many instances to provide seats for smaller children so that they can be carried about the store by the customer while making purchases and the present invention comprehends improvements in such a seat and primarily in means for closing the leg apertures in the swinging gate when such seat is not in use for supporting a child, but is in use for carrying smaller parcels.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a childs seat for use on a swinging gate, the gate being provided with leg openings for the child and to provide such a childs seat with a separate leaf structure which can be swung against the swinging gate for closing the legopenings when the seat is not occupied by a child.

Another object of the invention is to provide a childs seat including a back panel, a seat supporting structure, and a seat element, all of which are adapted to be swung against the swinging gate when assuming a collapsed position, the swinging gate having means for locking the seat element to itself when the parts are so collapsed, but permitting the back panel and seat supporting structure to swing to open position to.forn1 a. commodityreceivingauxiliary receptacle. r

More specifically, the invention provides a seat struc- States Patent ture formed of two separate panels, the upper panel being hinged for a pivoting motion to permit its upper edge to engage a hook forming a part of the swinging gate structure.

These and other objects will more. clearly hereinafter appear by.reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of. the instant specification, and wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which:

,Fig. 1 is.a perspective view .of the invention embody- 7 ing portions of a conventional swinging gate, the seat element being in lowered position; i

h Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1 showing the upper leaf of the seat engaging the hook for maintaining the leaf in upper position for closingthe leg openings; and

Fig. 3 is a similar view with the upper panel of the seat shifted vertically on its hinges to permit the seat panel to free itself over the upper marginal edge of the hook. In the' disclosure of the instant invention, a swinging gate is shown as including an outer frame of U-form, the frame embodying the base 10 and vertical legs 11 and 12, the latter being connected by hinge bar 14, the hinge bar 14 having extremities 15 pivotally mounted in a frame at the upper rear edge portion of the convens tional nesting or telescoping carrier'basket. This structure permits the gate to swing inwardly on its pivots 15 during telescoping association with a nesting cartof similar. construction. A transverse stay in the form of a rod 18 connects the legs 11 and 12 of the outer U-shaped frame at an elevation in the swinging gate structure substantially defining the preferable height of a childs seat to be hereinafter described. A plurality of stays 19 are welded at their upper extremities to the transverse stay 18 and at their lower extremities to the base..1 0 of the U-shaped frame.

Stays 19 are uniformly spaced and Patented Nov. 18, 1958 inner U-shaped Wicket lies in the same plane as the main or outer U-shaped wicket. Intermediate the inner wicket arms 23 and 24 and the adjacent vertical stays 19 are bracebars 25 and 26. The upper ends of these brace bars are welded to the outer face of the hinge bar 14, 'to the outer faces of the inner wicket at 27, and their lower ends are bent inwardly and wrapped around, and welded to the base 10 as at 28 to therebyincrease the rigidity of the fabricated assembly. Intermediate the rear gate structure and extending between the hinge rod 14 and the base element 10 are the spaced connecting rods 30, the upper ends of these rods being welded at 31 to the outer face of the hinge rod 14 and extending downwardly in parallel relation with their lower extremities welded to the base 22 of the inner frame and are then offset at 32 and welded at 33 to the inner face of the base 10. The fabricated structure forming the rear gate lies generally in a common plane post for the childs legs.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide means forsecuring one of. the seat panels in its upright position to close the openings B-B and this structure embodies a hook shown more clearly in Fig. l and including a U-shaped wire structure having legs 35 and a connecting base in the form of an offset hook portion 36, ,best shown in Figs. 2 and 3.v The offset hook portion 36 projects inwardly through the spaced vertical braces 30 with its legs spread laterally rearwardly of the braces 30, as shown at 37, and connected withthe vertical legs 35 outwardly of the braces 30. This structure permits the hook 36 to be made rigid by welding the upper extremities of the legs 35 to the cross bar 14 at 38 and the extension-37 to be welded at points of intersection 39 with the same braces 30. It will be noted that all-0f these weld points arerearwardly or outwardly spaced of the gate and that the hook 36 projects inwardly through the braces 30 a sufficient distance to providefor the reception of the upper engaging portion of the seat panel. ay reference "to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be evident that the upper frame element C of the seat panel which engages the ho'okl36seats into a socket defined by the upwardly extending free end of the hook 36 and the vertical st.ays,3,0.

1 The back of "theseat or swinging panel is formed of an I inverted. ll-shapedwicket, including the base structure 40"fandjthe arms 41 and42, the latter at their extremities being bent inwardly as at 43 to overlie 'the base 22 of the innerwicket structure of the swinging gate and forming a support for permitting swinging movement of the back panel structure on th'eupper adjacent surface of the base 22 of the swinging gate. A secondinner' inverted U- shaped frame member including the-base. 45 and the arms 46 completes theback frame and it will be noted that the extremities of the arms 46 are inwardly offset at 47 to clear the inwardly extending arms 430i the outer-frame members and are thenloopedjasat '48 abo'ut the bas'e22 of the inner frame of the swinginggateto provide a hinge structure to permit the backto swing on this pivotal structure withthe. extremities 43 forming-the supporting bearings. At 'a point generally medial of the back panel structure, a transverse brace member 50 extends and is welded to the framing heretofore described at the points of intersection with the framing. A plurality of stays 51 connect the base 40 of the inverted outer frame member of the swinging back panel and the medial stay 50, these stays being spaced apart uniformly throughout their length and providing a back for the seat to be hereafter described.

A stop member 55 for the seat is provided, this stop member being in the form of a transverse rod which is welded to the stays 51 at points of intersection. This stop member forms a rest upon which the seat element C seats when the seat structure is in open position for supporting a child. The seat includes a panel having a main frame of U-form including the base 60 and arms 61, the latter being hinged to the cross brace 13 of the swinging gate by the looped extremities 62 forming the terminals of the arms 61 of the frame. A multiplicity of transversely extending wires 63 are welded to the bottom faces of the arms 61 to provide a supporting area for an inner U-shaped stop engaging member, including the base C and the arms 66, the latter being looped at their extremities 67 for hinged connection with the cross stays 18 of the swinging gate. It will be noted that the base C of the U-shaped inner frame of the seat-supporting structure projects beyond the base 60 of the outer frame to overlie and engage the stop member 55 carried by the back of the seat as heretofore described. Connecting links 70 have their outer extremities 71 looped about the cross brace 50 of the back panel and their inner extremities 72 looped about one of the medial transversely extending wires 63, as best shown in Fig. l. The outer hinge connection 71 is substantially below the inner hinged connection 72, providing a relative closing movement between the hinged gate and the back panel when the seat supporting frame is swung to its vertical position. A seat or platform to support the child is shown at 80 and this seat may be of sheet metal, plastic, or any other suitable material.

The seat 80 has its side edges wrapped about the legs 81 of a U-shaped frame, the base of which U-shaped frame is shown at 82 and when overlying the main seat supporting frame the seat 80 is spaced from the main seat supporting frame C, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The inner marginal edge of the seat 80 is wrapped about a transverse rod 82 which extends between the side frame members 81 and is welded thereto inwardly of the base C. By this structure the panel or seat 80 is mounted for movement independently of the main swinging seat supporting frame and is capable of being swung upwardly independent of the main seat supporting frame for closing the leg openings BB in the hinged gate. Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be seen that the hooks 84, defining the terminals of the legs 81 of the seat structure, are elongated to permit movement of the seat in the direction of its width, so that this panel or seat, when swung to vertical position, as shown in Fig. 3, can be lifted until the cross rod 18 on which the hooks 84 are mounted engage the base of these hooks and in which position the frame structural element C will clear the hook 36 to enter the hook socket as shown in Fig. 2. Obviously, upon clearing the hook 36 the seat and its frame support will drop downwardly as shown in Fig. 2 with the base of the hook moving away from the mounting rod 18. The release of this seat base which forms a closure plate for the leg openings BB is carried out by means of the same operation, i. e. a customer can grip the cross member C and lift the seat 80 and its frame upwardly due to the clearance between hook 84 and the cross rod 18, to clear the hook 36 and permit the seat to swing downwardly upon its support. The support is defined by the main frame, including the base 60, legs 61 and the cross rods 63, and this seat supporting frame is held in supported position by the engagement of the cross element C on the supporting rod 55.

When a child is to occupy the seat, the panel is unhooked from the hook 36 and dropped down upon the seat supporting structure 60-61 and when the seat is not occupied this panel 80 will be elevated and engage the hook 36, thus closing the openings B-B and enabling placement of commodities in the area between the swinging gate and the panel 4042.

What I claim is:

1. In a seat structure for use in a telescoping carrier, said seat structure including in combination with a swinging gate, a panel structure forming a seat back swingably secured to the base portion of the gate, a seat-supporting structure swingably mounted medially of the gate structure, links interposed between and hingedly connected to the seat supporting structure and panel structure to limit relative movement between the seat support and panel structure, a seat slidably and hingedly mounted on the gate structure for swinging movement independent of the seat-supporting structure from an upright position against the gate to a horizontal position upon said seat support, and hook means carried by the gate for engaging and retaining said seat in its upright position.

2. The structure of claim 1 characterized in that the slidable seat can be moved in the plane of the seat when the latter is in vertical position to clear the hook carried by the gate and will shift to hook engaging portion by gravity.

3. In a seat structure for use in a folding carrier including a swinging gate, a panel structure swingably mounted adjacent the lower portion to the swinging gate, a seat supporting structure, swingably mounted medially of the gate structure, link means pivotally connected to the seat supporting structure and the panel structure to limit relative movement between the parts, a seat hingedly mounted on the gate structure above the seat supporting structure for movement independent of the seat supporting structure, a hook having an upwardly extending extremity positioned inwardly of the swinging gate, and means for shifting a portion of the seat to permit a hooking engagement with the hook when the seat is in elevated position.

4. The structure of claim 3 characterized in that the hook structure is of U-shaped form with its legs secured to the outer face of the gate and its book portion extending through'the gate.

5. In a seat structure for use in a telescoping carrier, said structure including in combination with a swinging gate, a panel structure forming a seat back swingably secured to the base portion of said seat, a seat support projecting from a face of the panel, a seat hinged to the gate structure medially thereof, said seat being movable from a horizontal position upon said seat support to a vertical position against the face of said gate, said seat having a portion movable in its own plane, and a hook carried at the upper portion of the gate and projecting inwardly of the face of the gate, whereby said hook interengages said movable portion when the seat is raised to its elevated position.

6. The structure of claim 5 characterized in that the portion of the seat shiftable in the plane of the seat forms a handle to permit the operation of the seat for engagement with the hook.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,484,419 Stirling Feb. 19, 1924 2,558,372 Nidermayer June 26, 1951 2,572,780 Tackenberg Oct. 23, 1951 2,662,775 Goldman Dec. 15, 1953 2,769,645 Young Nov. 6, 1956 2,813,725 Hoedinghaus et al Nov. 19, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,027,679 France Feb. 18, 1953 

